Synkd Blog

Is timing everything? It is with ice-cream!

When it comes to promoting your business, ‘timing’ really can make all the difference between success and failure.

Get your timing wrong and you risk missing out on riding that early euphoric ‘wave’. Too early and the market just won’t ‘get’ your offering – remember virtual reality anyone? Quick note: check out ‘augmented reality’ for a more up to date version. Get your timing too late in the game and well, it’s simply too late – you’ll miss the boat.

Timing is also important on a more fundamental business and marketing level. Ask yourself: are you promoting your business when your target customers are simply not around or when it’s simply not convenient for them? You could be seriously undermining your brand, credibility and goodwill.

Take a real-life, recent example of how not to promote your business, at the wrong time AND annoy your decision-makers at the same time!  A most impressive way to make a mess of your marketing!

Picture the scene: it’s a late summer holiday weekend on a balmy Melbourne Sunday evening – one of the last weekends of summer. Temperatures have hit the high 20’s/early 30s all day and the concrete and brickwork still radiate heat. A family get-together is winding down, young kids are in the process of going to bed and thoughts turn to the working week ahead. Its 7.30/8.00pm, the light is quickly dimming and the cool change is blowing through. Relief all-around.

Suddenly your ears prick up. Above the slightly dying wind you hear that all-too familiar jingle of the ice-cream van. Instinctively a wistful look and a smile appears on your face. But slowly you question the sound and the smile turns to a puzzled look: at 8pm? On a Sunday? Within earshot of children who are slowly drifting off to sleep? Really? Admittedly its not great timing but it is a GREAT way to annoy your customer base!

Of course, the insight here is not awareness of local Council noise-restrictions. The insight is with all those parents (read: decision-makers) who want a few hours at that time of the week, to prepare ahead, catch up on work or have some time to themselves. They do not want nor do they need to spend more time putting little Charlie or Charlotte back to bed fighting the tears & the tantrums for ice-cream whilst being forced to be the ‘bad’ parents they’d rather not be. (Note: while this is not a parenting blog, of course, sometimes a tough love approach to ice-cream works best.)

So yes, timing can make all the difference when promoting your business – especially when selling soft-serve. As a father of three kids under 4 years, it may never be ‘too’ early for ice-cream but there is definitely a threshold or use-by-date when applied to kids.

From a marketing perspective it absolutely pays to be aware of your target market’s pain points, however its crucial to avoid deliberately pushing those pain points to the detriment of your business – whether its by direct or indirect/unintentional means.

Importantly, in the pursuit if mastering your marketing, be sure to understand the dynamics of when your customer wants to buy from you – and not when you want them to buy from you!

So keep one eye on the time to keep your customer’s on side if you want to master your marketing!

Your Marketing Man,
Jamie Thomas

Drop a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *